GETTYSBURG, Pa. – The Albright Lions men's basketball team staged a furious rally in the second half, but it was not enough as they fell to Randolph-Macon 82-69 in the Gettysburg Tip-Off Tournament on Friday night.
 
With the loss, the Lions drop to 1-2 on the season as they will now play in the consolation game of the Gettysburg Tip-Off Tournament. Meanwhile, the Yellow Jackets improve to 3-0 on the season after being picked to finish second in the ODAC, and will face host Gettysburg in the championship game.
 
Sophomore Samuel Majekodunmi had another big night for the Lions as he poured in a career-high 25 points behind going 4-of-7 from beyond the arc. Classmate Sidney Brown also established a career-high as he tallied 17 points after hitting five three-pointers. Senior Jared Rappoport led the Lions with six rebounds and four blocks, while sophomore Troy Smoot added nine points off the bench.
 
The Lions took a quick 5-2 lead at the 18:04-mark of the first half following a three-pointer from Brown and a jumper from sophomore Isaiah Harris. Brown then continued to have the hot hand early as he nailed two more three-pointers and a jumper to help the Lions stretch out to a 13-6 lead at the 14:55-mark. Albright went up 15-8 with 14:02 left in the first half before going on a scoring drought of 5:21 that allowed the Yellow Jackets to score 10-straight points and take an 18-17 lead. The Lions scoring troubles continued as they went on another extended drought, this time a 4:11 stretch, as Randolph-Macon stormed out to a 28-19 lead. Albright would fall behind by double-digits and could only get as close again to the Yellow Jackets by 10 points before eventually falling behind 13 at halftime. Majekodunmi would score the final eight points for the Lions in the first half.
 
Randolph-Macon scored the first four points of the second half to take a 44-27 lead at the 18:52-mark before the Lions rattled off 12-straight points to cut the Yellow Jackets lead down to five at 44-39 at the 15:02-mark. A three-pointer from the Yellow Jackets ended the run, but the Lions continued to continue the rally as they made it a two-point game at 48-46 following a Smoot fast break layup after he stole the ball. Albright stayed two points away at 50-48 with 10:29 left in the second half, but Randolph-Macon held the Lions without a field goal for over two minutes as they took a 57-50 advantage. Three-pointers from Majekodunmi and Smoot would bring the Lions back down to 59-56 at the 7:29-mark before five quick points from the Yellow Jackets swung momentum away as they took a 64-56 lead. Albright got back within four at 66-62 with 5:03 remaining in the second half and again at 71-67. Unfortunately for the Lions, the Yellow Jackets slammed the door as they outscored Albright 11-2 to close out the game. The Lions were held without a field goal for the final 2:49 of the second half.
 
Albright shot 37.9 percent (22-of-58) from the field and went 10-of-30 (33.3%) from beyond the arc. The Lions went 15-of-21 (71.4%) from the free throw line and scored 15 points off 18 turnovers. Meanwhile, the Yellow Jackets went 31-of-63 (49.2%) from the field after shooting 55.2 percent in the second half. Randolph-Macon shot 33.3 percent (8-of-24) from three-point range and a solid 12-of-15 (80%) from thr free throw line. The Yellow Jackets out-rebounded the Lions 45-30 which led to 13 second chance points, and received 31 points from the bench.
 
The Yellow Jackets used a balanced attack as they saw five players score in double-figures. Buzz Anthony led the team with 13 points, while Corey Bays tallied a double-double behind 12 points and 11 rebounds.
 
The Lions will return to action tomorrow, November 17^th as they will face Ithaca in the consolation game at 2 p.m.